a day in the life - meg

Keeping it short and sweet this morning... enjoy a day in the life of Meg!

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Hi! I'm Meg, and I blog over at The Smyser Family. My husband, Josh, and I have been together since high school and you can read a lot more about us here if you'd like. Our daughter Madison was born in August of 2010.

We are very fortunate to own our own business (started by Josh's parents) so I am able to work from home and stay home with Madison. :)

I love organization, lists, and schedules...so we typically stick to a pretty tight schedule most days, but we still have fun! I'm documenting this last Monday...which was pretty hectic and off our normal schedule...but that's life!

7:36am I wake up, run to the kitchen to pour her milk (she won't drink ice cold milk), and jump in the shower.

7:55am Madison is starting to wake up. She is rolling around and talking to her beloved Piggy in her crib. Good Morning!

8:04am M gets a diaper change, all lotioned up, and we get her dressed for the day.

8:18am M gets to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while she drinks her milk.

8:32am M says, "Ba," meaning she wants a banana, so breakfast for M consists of a banana and some oatmeal.

8:53am She's done so I put away some dishes away and tidy the kitchen while M plays.

9:02am I eat a bowl of cereal while M plays and steals bites of my cereal.

9:13 Pack up M's stuff, change her diaper and we're off to run errands. We stop at the post office to get our mail (we live in a tiny town), and then to Farm and Fleet quick, and then to Super Target. (No cute pics of her at Target because we were in a rush...and...well, you'll see why.)

10:20am We are ready to head to the check out lane at Target when I realize one of M's Uggs is missing!!! Whaaaat?!? We retrace our steps...meaning I run through Super Target like a mad woman with my head down looking for her silly Ugg. No luck, so we get checked out, and run to Guest Services to report the missing Ugg and leave my cell number.

10:47am Arrive at my Chiro appointment. 2 minutes late. My MIL was able to meet me there to watch M during my appointment. After my appointment, we chat for a bit while M plays with her G'ma in the waiting room.

11:30am Target calls...the Ugg was found! Yay! Back to Target quick. We live about 25 minutes from Target (and most civilization), and as we're driving home M falls asleep...I take the long way home to let her sleep a bit longer. She still likes 2 naps a day.

(Of course she took of her shoes and socks.)

12:30pm We arrive home and I immediately change her diaper. Then, it's time for lunch for M (Milk, Gerber crunchies, mashed sweet potatoes, cottage cheese and berries). My husband is in the house since my new dishwasher (yay!) was delivered and he has started the installation process.

1pm Play time and helping Daddy with dishwasher. I scarf down a sandwich quick.

2pm My power is out and the water is off (for installation safety) when my husband realizes he needs some connector part and heads to the nearest hardware store in the little town next to us. He leaves.

2:15pm I get a text from Josh because the hardware store doesn't have the part so he has to head into town. :( Right at this time I notice someone is a bit smelly...so time for another diaper change.

3:12pm Dad home...with a surprise for M! (Josh always buys her stuff I would have said no too...I don't let her have the candy though - choking hazard I think). She also get's a snack of a fruit pouch and some water.

3:46pm The installation is complete! Yay! Time for a diaper change for M and she goes in her crib for a nap! I watch her roll around for a bit, and then settle in.

4pm I clean up our kitchen, then bag treats for tonight. Thanks to Pinterest for the ideas! Then, I start working on this post check FB, Pinterest, read some blogs....

4:42pm I check the monitor and she's still sleeping, so then I start working on this post.

5:25pm I can't believe she's still sleeping! I assume she'll wake up soon, so I start getting together her stuff for dinner tonight. Tonight we have our Annual Company Dinner with our employees and their families (we only have 3 employees) at Old Chicago. It's not until 7pm, which is late for our family...but it's the only time that worked for everyone.

5:30pm M wakes up. I feed her a snack to hold her until dinner. Then, we play and read books together.

6:15pm We head out to dinner. M does GREAT...which is a relief. She has good days and bad days at restaurants, and I was worried since we'd be out past her bedtime. It probably helped that there was another 1 year old and a 5 year old...and we were in part of the restaurant where she should safely get out of her high chair and play with the other kiddos a bit, too. (I snapped this pic of Josh holding M and Ellie. M isn't sure what to think about her Daddy holding another little girl! Sadly, my cell died after this picture.)

9:20pm Bedtime routine (an hour later than normal!!!) No bath tonight since it's late...just lotion, books, jammies, and kisses.

9:35pm I hop on my laptop to finally order our holiday cards. Josh goes to bed a bit early because he has a super busy Tuesday ahead of him.

10:20pm I head to bed...exhausted...as usual.

1. What is the most surprising thing about being a Mom? Umm. EVERYTHING. For me though...I think just how much you can love another human being. I didn't consider myself very motherly before having M...but that has most certainly changed! Also...that you can function on less sleep than you think...it isn't always pretty...but you can do it!

2. What advice would you give new or soon-to-be Moms? Just do what you think is best for you and your baby. You will get a lot of advice...but take what you want from it. Also, don't forget to take time for you and your significant other.

3. What are your top 3 baby products? The Boppy Pillow - I breastfed M for 15 months, our Video Monitor - especially as she got a bit older, too, it's awesome to be able to check in on her and SEE what she's up to...it helped (me) when we were sleep training her, and a good stroller - it's great to get fresh air and exercise with your little one.

Thanks, Ashley, for letting me a part of this series and your fantastic blog!

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Thank you, Meg, for sharing your day with us!

i was wrong...

... people are paying attention to me at the gym.

You see, I am easily embarrassed.  Very easily (surprising I know, since I have posted so many ridiculous pictures of myself lately, but it is true).  I'm not very brave at the gym because I'm worried I won't be doing something right and someone will see me, maybe laugh at me, or make fun of me in their head.  But I always tell myself everyone is just there to workout.  No judgement.  Get over it and just do something.

Now I know that might now always be 100% true, but I keep saying it in my head so that maybe I'll go out on a limb and actually do some weighted squats without nervously checking over my shoulder to make sure no one is watching.  But this past week I was totally proved wrong.

For the most part I tend to just run on the treadmill.  One reason I love running?  You don't really have to think about it.  I mean you do, but I don't have to necessarily plan a 30 minute workout.  I show up, hop on the treadmill, and do what feels good.  I try and make myself do some ab work and weights at least three times a week.  Usually it only consists of push-ups and a variety of crunches.  Well last Monday I finished up my cardio and headed over to a mat to do some just that.  For the first time in a while I decided to actually do real push-ups instead of girly ones...

"Glad to see you finally bucked up and did some real push-ups today.  I was sick of seeing you wuss out with those girly ones."

I'm pretty sure I looked up with a completely dumbfounded look on my face as my cheeks started to flush.  It was a personal trainer.  He is frequently in that area with his clients.  I honestly didn't know what to say because I was so embarrassed by the fact that someone was paying attention to me.  I'm pretty sure I mustered up an 'oh... yeah...' before getting back to my set.  He then said, "I definitely contemplated putting weights on your back the other day, you can do real push-ups.  Quit being a wimp."

Cue awkward laugh from myself, "oh sure, ok."  He said all of this in a playful, not mean at all way, just for the record.  I'm sure he really was just trying to encourage me to try harder, as I know I should.  But sheesh!  I guess I should be flattered that he thinks I am strong enough to do real push-ups, right?  I suppose I need to write up a decent strength workout now...

More running related tidbits... I was pretty proud of this run yesterday:

I haven't increased my speed quite as quickly as I want to, because my right knee and hip are frequently begging for mercy.  But 6.5 miles at an 8:56 pace?  That is a heck of a lot better than where I was a few months ago.  Ryann, my mom and I scheduled a trip to Georgia in January, and even though I'm sure it will still be a bit chilly, I'm thinking I'll be able to get in some outdoor runs.  I can't wait to test my legs outside, I think I have been on the treadmill for almost a month straight!!  Say it with me, BORING!

Oh, and so far so good on all of my December goals.  I was a wee bit worried weight wise, seeing as I have eaten an embarrassing amount of cookies this week, but the scale was nice to me.  I think I put in 18.8 miles on the treadmill, but honestly I forgot to write down/take pictures of my workouts, and I can't completely remember what I did.  I'm pretty sure it was at least 15.

Have anything to share health and fitness wise?  Link up below!

week in iphone pics

Our weeks are getting busier and busier!  Hopefully that doesn't mean life will suddenly turn lame after January 1st...

sunday

Last Sunday my bestie took me to some great antique shops and thrift stores.  There were a couple of mirrors I almost bought to turn into a chalkboard, but I just couldn't make a decision.  I'm a terrible thrifter.  That evening we did some grocery shopping at Whole Foods and finished up our Christmas tree decorating!

monday

Oh Monday.  The first day she discovered the light switch.  We had a little playdate with Sarah and the boys at Monkey Bizness.  Ryann is obsessed with those giant blocks.  After our playdate I dragged Ryann to Hobby Lobby with me.  She wanted to send daddy a tongue picture during lunch.  When Chris is gone I absolutely dread bathtime.  I have no idea why but I seriously HATE giving Ryann a bath.  Luckily she is pretty cute (and loves brushing her teeth).  She also makes awesome faces when we take post bath pictures together...

tuesday

Tuesday morning we woke up to the tiniest layer of snow.  Ryann was so excited, obviously.  Grammy came to visit and we ventured to the mall  (where else?).  With one bat of the eyelashes Ryann convinced grammy to take her on the carosuel, and nearly got her to buy a bitty baby at American Girl (really it may have been me that put my foot down on that one :o).  That evening we used our matching ginger spatulas to make some cookies!

wednesday

After Tuesday's attempted crib escape Ryann's room got some new pillow flooring.  Between getting dinner ready for the crock pot and making more cookies I turned our kitchen into a disaster area.  By the way, Ryann was also a huge fan of the dough.  After nap we set out for a little advent calendar activity.  On the schedule for that day?  Hot chocolate from Starbucks.  We had an extra special trip by going to the Starbucks in Target.  Hot chocolate and Target, what could be better right?  I'm not sure if it the drink was coming through the straw too fast, or if was that she hadn't really had a warm drink before, but Ryann did not want the hot chocolate at all after the first sip.  The lemon pound cake though?  That she was perfectly happy with.  

thursday

Ryann woke up with some awesome bedhead.  It upset her just a bit :o).  I got her a set of counting/sorting bears, she loves them!  Not actually counting them or sorting them though, of course.  She lined up all the cups and told me the yellow one was for me, the purple was hers, blue was for Daddy, red was for Kyle and green was for Chris.  Kyle and Chris are a couple of our friends.  I thought it was funny that she decided they were their cups, and she has completely stuck to that.  Per the advent calendar Ryann got to unwrap a new book.  And because there wasn't enough junk food in our house I decided to make more!  Thankfully I dropped those sweets (along with a batch of cookies!) off to my friend Kenzie on Friday.

friday

My kid is cute.  There is no denying it :o).  And those little bears?  They definitely keep her occupied.  But man... they end up everywhere!  We are still on the hunt for a good holiday dress.  Ryann tried to humor me by playing dress up, but obviously it wasn't her first choice for our evening activity.  Crazy bath hair and more awkward post bath faces.  She looks THRILLED to be taking pictures with me.

saturday

The only phone picture I took yesterday was that awkward grocery store shot on the right.  Apparently our day was lame?  Not really... Chris took Ryann to the pet store (hello cheap indoor zoo) while I showered.  And after dinner we made a little snuggle fort in the family room and watched a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie.  It was a good day.

Really it was a good week.  A great week (of course it helps that the hubby had three days off, THREE!).  I'm hoping the next few weeks are just as fun, and not too stressful!  We've packed our schedule full, but I'm sure we will enjoy it.

How was your week?  Linking up with our week by iphone and instaFriday.

where are your pits?

Just a couple videos to brighten your Saturday (that feels like a Sunday to me) night.  Really I'm sure you're doing way cooler things than sitting around playing on the internet, but just in case :o).

Where are your pits?  This video makes me smile so much my cheeks hurt.

And ok, this one is a little long, and random, but my kid is such a spaz.  I LOVE her, but she is so goofy.

Have a good one!

random links

I'm currently procrastinating designing our holiday cards.  Why is it so terribly difficult for me to design stuff for myself?  I decided sharing a few links would be a more effective use of my time.  As a completely random side note, if pinterest doesn't get its act together soon I might have to go on a pinterest strike (I'm pretty sure that is a lie, but seriously).  I just freaking want to search things!  Come one pinterest!

• I wish I liked coffee, or tea, or some sort of warm drink, so I had an excuse to have one of these cups.  I mean I'm sure I could use them for my water, but that seems kind of lame, doesn't it?
• Does anyone shop for clothes at Victoria's Secret?  I rarely have, but there are some sweaters that look cute... 
• I made these cookies this week.  The dough tasted AMAZING.  And then I think I baked them a touch too long.  They aren't as soft as I was hoping.  Huge sad face :(.  But that hasn't stopped me from eating several.  It is junk food central in this house right now.  Healthy eating fail!
• Pretty sure Ryann's party will include glitter.  Loving the sparkly heart on these invitations.
• A little boy battling leukemia has a wish to receive 1,000,000 holiday cards in the mail for Christmas since he won't be able to go home.  You can get details here.
• My mom upgraded to an iPad 2, so I was the lucky recipient of her first model.  I want a new case, and am currently obsessed with all things sparkly.  Think this one could be reliable at only $4?
• Love this idea to save old holiday cards.  It is making me wish that A) I hadn't thrown away cards we received the last couple of years and B) we received more Christmas cards :o).

Ok.  Back to designing stuff.

Bah.

a day in the life - amy

See, I told you it was coming eventually.  I've been terrible about sending reminder e-mails for this series.  TERRIBLE!  I apologize.  That is generally why the posts either aren't happening or are late.  But no matter, today you can peek at a crazy day in Amy's life!  I had the pleasure of meeting Amy this past weekend when Ryann and I tagged along with Sarah and her family for a little Santa fun.  I hope you enjoy reading about a day in her life, it definitely seems exhausting!

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Hi I am Amy, you can find me over here at The Perfectly Imperfect Parent. I am Mom to Paxton (4) and Harper (almost 2….like on Friday.... crazy). I am married to Josh, and we own 4 Sports Bars in Kansas (which makes for INSANE hours for the hubs). I work part-time as the Youth & Family Coordinator at a gym. I can't say the name of the company I work for because then I would have to be SUPER careful about making my blog "appropriate" and blogging with "the best interest of the company in mind" YUCK, no way! I am pretty honest over at my blog and I think the head honchos would disapprove of some of it's content. Therefore I must be discreet with my companies name. This made it tough while taking pictures for this post because I was wearing my work t-shirt with the logo right on it.  DUH.

Literally every day of the week is a different schedule for us. Josh only has off Tuesday all day, and
Sunday and Thursday nights. All other days he works 9 am- 10pm with about an hour break in the afternoon. So basically I run this show. Wednesdays are our craziest days so OF COURSE I choose
to document our day on THAT day and OF COURSE I choose to write it the day it's supposed to be mailed to Ashley (which is why this won't be posted till Thursday, sorry Ashley!!!)  Here it goes, buckle up.

6:00 am-My alarm goes off, time for the gym except............I turn over to turn the alarm off my phone and notice the weather app on it says that it is a balmy 24 degrees out. I dismiss the alarm and go back to sleep. Unfortunately THIS is the only time of day that I can go to the gym, and by dismissing that alarm, that means no gym for me today. Crap.

8:00 am- I hear Harper talking in her room, roll over in bed to look at the clock and yelp. 8:00!!! What the heck! Harper NEVER sleeps that late anymore thanks to daylight savings (can we PLEASE start a petition to get rid of that?) I jump out of bed and yell at Josh to get up, he has to have Pax to school in 20 minutes!!!!! I run in Paxton's room yelling at him to get up, then I finally go and get Harper out of her bed. The next 20 minutes are a blur of getting kids dressed, shoving poptarts down their throats (Mom of the year for that healthy breakfast!) and getting Pax and Josh out the door. Due to the extreme rush of the morning, no pictures were taken to document that time period.

8:30-9:30 am- I shower and get dressed while Harper watches cartoons and plays with puzzles. Usually she won't sit and watch tv for long, she has to be up in my bizness while I am getting ready. Today she must have sensed my stressfulness at being so late and left me alone. Thanks girlfriend. Luckily my job doesn't have any "set hours" and I can come and go as I please (unless I have a scheduled meeting or appointment). As long as I get my work done, then my boss is super cool about me coming in whenever. ALSO Harper gets to go in the kid center there for up to 2 1/2 hours a day FREE! Major perk of working there!!

9:30 am- We are all ready and about to head out to work when one of our contractors shows up. We are in the middle of finishing the basement so we have people in and out of our house daily. He had to do a couple things in the basement real fast so I waited around so that I could lock up behind him.

9:45 am- FINALLY on our way towork.

9:50-10:50 am- Answer e-mails, make a few calls, work on my staffs yearly reviews, chat with my BF Brandi before it's time to pick up Pax from school. Yes that's right I worked a WHOPPING hour this morning.

11:00 am- Pick up Pax. Today is also my day to drive the "bus" for the preschool. I am Vice-President of his school board and I also volunteer to drive the noon route on Wednesdays cause I am nice like that.

11:00-11:35 am- Take the kids from the morning class home then rush home to feed MY kids before we have to go pick up kids for the afternoon class.

11:35-12:00 pm- Feed the kids PB&J, apples, and yogurt smoothies. Unload and load the dishwasher, clean up lunch, put shoes and coats back on, back out the door and onto the bus.

12:00-12:40 pm- Pick up the afternoon kids and take them to school. Talk with the teacher for a
little bit about our board meeting the next week. Harper LOVES visiting the preschool and she has already found a spot on the circle rug and is happily playing with what else?.........a puzzle (the girl freakin loves puzzles!!!)

1:00 pm- Back home. Kids take off shoes and coat in front of the door and LEAVE shoes and coats in front of the door. Grrrrrrr. They take off running for Paxton's room because Harper knows that it is naptime and she is not happy about it. I find them hiding in a tent in Pax's room. Harper finally comes out of hiding, gives Pax a big hug and a kiss, I take her to potty and then put her to bed. She has been potty trained for a few weeks now and is wearing underwear during naps and bedtime too. She was waking up dry so I decided she must be ready! No sense wasting diapers if she won't even go in them anymore. That shiznipp is expensive!!

1:00-2:45pm- FINALLY eat for the first time all day (I am not a breakfast person, just a coffee person, and I usually do dishes or clean up while the kids eat and wait until naptime to eat). I start writing this post (told you I procrastinated), check Facebook, upload pictures, and fight with Paxton about staying in his room during naptime. I don't care if he doesn't sleep, but he has to stay in his room and play quietly, mmmmmmmk?

2:45 pm- Harper wakes up (OF COURSE she only sleeps an hour and 45 minutes on my busiest day!!) she is yelling "Mommy!! I go Papa's house?" She has been asking to go to Papa's house for 2 days now! I go in and get her, check to make sure she is dry (she is!! High-fivin' myself!) and take her to potty.

3:15 pm- Josh is home!! I pass the kids off to him, grab my keys and purse and am out the door again. I am the leader of a Teen Club at my job and we meet Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, so I head back to work.

3:15-5:15 pm- Teen Club! A lady from our local newspaper came and interviewed us today because she is doing an article about the community service projects the teens have done. Holla!! Free publicity for our club! Josh brings Harper to my work at 5 because he has to go back to work. Pax is at Christmas recital practice at church. Unfortunately due to my companies "policies" I couldn't take pictures of the teen club so there is a bit of a gap in pictures here.

5:30- Meet my in-laws at Willies (the restaurant we own) to eat. They take Pax to recital practice on Wednesdays and then we meet up at Willies after I get off for dinner. One of the perks of owning a restaraunt? FREE FOOD!! It would be super easy to eat there all the time and NEVER have to cook, however that is super un-healthy, so I limit our Willies visits to twice a week. It is nice to have that option, though, especially because we also get to see Daddy when we go.

6:00-7:00pm- The in-laws take the kids to their house so I can run to Walmart. I have to bake 6 dozen
cookies for a cookie bake I have the next day and GO FIGURE I am out of all basic baking needs. I take my time since I have no kids!!

7:00-8:00 pm- Charities Auxiliary meeting. This is my first year volunteering for Charities so I don't say much during the meeting. We basically just discuss auction items for our annual celebration that is held in February.

8:00- 9:00 pm- Go pick up kids at in-laws house and head home. Get them in their pj's and put Harper to bed. I let Pax stay up a little longer and we watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (always a classic!!!). He finally gets in bed at 9, and by bed I mean his tent with blankets and about a bajillion stuffed animals. He said that's where he wanted to sleep so I just went with it! Looked like a fun time to me, I kind of want to sleep in there too!!

10:15 pm- Josh gets home. This is the first time we have had a real conversation all day!!

10:45 pm- Callin it a night. Fall asleep with 6 dozen cookies I need to bake dancing in my
head.

What is the most surprising thing about being a Mom?

That I have kept them alive this long? Ha, I am kidding!! I would say the amount of love I feel for them. Like, literally, makes your heart skip a beat takes your breath away kind of love. But along with all that love comes so much fear and anxiety!! This world is a scary place!! I had no idea how scary it was until I had kids. NOW I watch the news and am all like "Gah! Kids, go hide in the basement, there are crazy people out there!" I am constantly wondering if I am doing the right thing; am I feeding them enough fruits and veggies, will the plates they use give them cancer, is Harper's biting a phase or is she destined to be a bully her whole life? You get my drift.

What advice would you give to new or soon to be Moms?

None. I am sure they get enough, like on a daily basis, probably a hourly basis right? Advice overload!!! I remember that, it stressed me out! I learned, though, that there is no right way or wrong way, there is just the way that works best for you. Before I had kids I was all "OMG I will NEVER let my kids do this, and they will only do this, they will be perfect" and then I got a nice helping of humble pie when I actually did have my own. Paxton was a horrible sleeper that first year so we would take turns sleeping on the couch with him. Say wha-at! Yeah we did. Harper had a binky until she was 18 months. Yadda yadda yadda. It is what it is, trust your instinct, do what feels right for you. And buy wine.....lots of wine.

What are your top 3 baby products?

Wow I feel like I can't remember the last baby product we used. Harper is almost 2, long gone are the baby things (sad face).

SWING- Both my kids loved it. Life saver! I originally didn't buy one, we lived in a small apt when we had Pax and I didn't want it taking up the space. We had a horrible ice storm when he was 5 weeks old and had to go stay with friends because we had lost power. They had a swing so I put him in it and BAM the kid was in heaven!! That swing made its way home with us that week and Harper got one when she was born too.

Aveeno bath products for babies- My kids both had super sensitive skin (thanks Josh!) so this was the only stuff that really worked and still had a little bit of a smell. I was so sad when I couldn't use all the Johnson & Johnson products that smelled like babies (ya know what I mean by that right? like powdery baby smell? love that smell). All the natural products didn't have a smell or it smelled like grass clippings so when I found the Aveeno and it didn't break them out I was sold, plus it smelled really good. Yeah!! My kids could stop smelling like the front yard!!

Baby gowns- Saved my life when they were newborns!! Um seriously who invented those stupid pajamas with a bajillion buttons? I could barely remember my name most nights when I was up every 2 hours with a newborn, let alone button all those buttons!!! With the gowns, you pull them up, change the diaper, pull them down, and TRY to sleep for about 10 minutes before it is time to nurse again. Funny thing is, at the time, it is HELL, but now I think about it and miss those nights and those tiny newborn legs............ but not enough to have another one...........yet.

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Thank you for sharing your day with us Amy!  And really, no worries about it being late, I think I speak for all of blog world when I say we survived :o).  But I'm glad I got to read about your day!

embrace the camera

We set up our Christmas tree this past weekend.   Ryann did her best to help put the ornaments on, but she had a tough time getting the hooks and loops to stay on the branches.  She did manage to get 4 or 5 ornaments on the same branch.  She was pretty proud of her work :o).

Last year we only used green, champagne and silver ornaments.  This year I am loving the addition of the blue (turquoise?  teal?  whatever).  Definitely adds a little more color to the tree.  In the evenings the green and champagne ornaments tend to blend in and disappear, so it is nice to have some ornaments you can actually see.

I wish we had room for a second tree in our house.  This one is more of what I would call a 'fashion' tree.  It looks nice, but doesn't really have any meaning.  It would be great to have a tree to put up some more meaningful ornaments.  Like the ones my mom saved for me when I was younger.  Or the penguin that Ryann diligently colored the other night.  We don't have very many special ornaments right now, maybe I'll have to find a spot for a little one somehow...